Roasted Duck Congee (Chinese Rice Porridge)

My little adventure to make Roasted Duck Congee actually started 2 days ago, when I had a craving for Peking Duck. 

Peking Duck House, as their name suggests, serves very good Peking Duck in Manhattan.  They have a location in Chinatown, which is almost always packed as it's popular among locals and tourists, and they also have another location in Midtown East.   A few nights ago, I caved into my craving for Peking Duck and ordered one for take out from their Midtown location.  My duck was packaged well and came with their house-made pancakes, scallions, cucumbers and house peking duck sauce, and also a pint of white rice.  Wow, so much food!

We also ordered the House Made Noodles with Beef, not realizing the enormous amount of duck we were actually getting.  It was yummy, and complemented the duck well!

After picking through all the duck, we were left with lots of bones.  Thinking back to the mornings after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I recalled that my Dad would take the leftover bones from our Turkeys (carcass works best if you have it!) and make Congee from it.  The flavors from the bones would carry through into the porridge and would make it soo delicious and unique!  I figured leftover Peking Duck bones would do the trick too, hoping the roasted flavor would give a great taste. Afterall, their preparation of the Peking Duck sounds amazing (according to their website):

"...air is first pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin, and then boiled water is repeatedly spread over the bird, which is then carefully dried. The dried skin is rubbed all over with maltose and the duck is then roasted in a hot oven for a period of time until the meat is tender and the skin crispy."


Cool right?? Turns out it does make make fabulous congee! Read on to see how I made it.

Roasted Duck Congee (Chinese Rice Porridge)

2 cups of white rice
2 quarts water
Bones from duck (chicken and turkey also work well too!)
3 TB chopped scallions
1 tsp Chicken Bouillon powder
1/4 tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
A couple of slices of fresh ginger (optional)

Rinse 2 cups of rice* until the water runs clear.

Clockwise from top left:  Cloudy water from unrinsed rice; Clear water post-rinse; Rice that has been rinsed and drained

(*Note: refers to the cups that come with an electric rice cooker, which are a tad smaller than a regular 1 Cup measuring cup).

A regular 1 cup measuring cup is larger than the cup that comes with an electric rice cooker

Put 2 quarts of water in a pot.  Add the 2 cups of rinsed rice.  Add the duck bones and a couple of slices of ginger, if you have it on hand.  Bring it to a boil over high heat.

Once it boils, turn it down to medium heat to a rolling simmer.  Keep the pot uncovered.  Stir occasionally so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

When the rice opens up and is soft, it is ready, approximately 35-45 minutes.  

Add scallions, Chicken bouillon powder, white pepper and soy sauce.

Stir and serve!

The congee had a wonderful hint of the roasted duck.  This is a great way to recycle your leftovers and turn one meal into two! 

Enjoy!

Piggy KL